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September 28, 2007
Strawberry cake
It was Yves birthday last Monday. My parents bought him a cake with fresh strawberries to celebrate on Sunday. Yves doesn't like to make a big deal about his birthday so we just ordered mediteranean food from Sahara, it was delicious but a bit more expensive than we are used to paying in Bay Ridge.
Posted by luluvision at 09:35 AM | Comments (0)
September 24, 2007
The last days in Chicago
Sienna's first IHOP trip
Sunday we took a final dip in the pool since we were checking out on Monday and staying at Rich and Theresa's. Sienna didn't seem as excited about the pool as she was the first time. Oh well. In the afternoon we headed over to R and T's to watch football on their HDTV and eat brats.
Their dog Elvis
Monday we were total tourists and headed over to check out 'the bean' and walk around a bit.
Geeks at the bean
We had lunch in the restaurant behind the bean, it was really good! We checked out a few more places and took pictures, which I took film and hope they come out. We headed back just in the nick of time, it started raining!
Tuesday we kinda laid low and went to see Rich's old condo and that neighborhood. Had lunch at Moody's (?), apparently home of Chicago's best burger (wasn't bad) and walked over to the lake.
Wednesday we flew back and again, Sienna was perfect for the flight. It wasn't full and I debated about asking if we can bring on the car seat since we got spoiled the first time around. I decided not to just to see how she was going to be in our laps since the flight was so short. We did have a seat mate for the window so she was in our lap the whole time. She fell asleep in Yves' arms and woke up once we landed. And we got there about 40 minutes early! Yay! (Yves took the same flight when he came back from Chicago last month and it was also early.) Such a nice and relaxing trip.
Posted by luluvision at 07:52 PM | Comments (0)
September 19, 2007
Rich and Theresa get married
Rich and Theresa got married on Saturday, Sept. 8 in downtown Chicago. They had about maybe 100 or 150 people? I'm not sure but it wasn't huge and it was as small as ours. The ceremony was held in the private dining room at Spiaggia along with cocktail hour and dinner. The food was terrific but more on that later. Since Yves was best man we arrived early to be involved in the pictures. There was a beautiful gazebo across from the restaurant, a popular spot for wedding couples as we can see it from the window. I didn't know me and Sienna were also in the pictures or else I would have changed Sienna into her pretty dress a lot earlier! I hope Theresa didn't mind!
Because Chicago had so much rain, the mosqitos were plentiful and of course I got bit! 4 times!! So after we were done with our part of the pictures, we went in search of a Walgreens to buy some creme. On the way back, we saw the couple getting their picture taken on the median.
Yves went to take a horizon picture of them and got into the picture!
We went back to the restaurant and hung out until it was time for the ceremony at 6. Sienna got a big kick out of Bob, Rich's dad. He was making her laugh and laugh and not even doing anything goofy. I have video of it. And here is Martha, Rich's mom, hanging out with Sienna.
I don't have any pictures of the ceremony as I had Sienna and since 6 is her feeding time, was feeding her near the back to keep out of the way. Boy was she farting up a storm during the ceremony! I was hoping no one could really smell it and it turned out she was pooping! I hope that means good luck for the marriage in some cultures! LOL!
I only got to try a couple of hors d'oeuvres since the room got really crowded and Sienna was in her carriage so I wanted to keep out of the way and stayed in the other room. I was kinda bummed about missing all that food, as those who know me know what a glutton I am, but in retrospect it was a good thing I did because the dinner was sooooo good! And I stuffed myself with the bread basket, not surprising! And I ate tomatoes!! The starter was mozzarella and tomato salad. It was fresh buffalo mozzarella (melted in your mouth!) and the tomatoes were little cherry tomatoes but it went so well with the cheese and the olive oil and basil. YUM! The next course was homemade veal ravioli. YUM! There are no pictures of them because I guess I ate it too fast! LOL. Yves got the filet mignon, so tender and I got the fish, flaky on the outside and moist on the inside!
And then the cake! OMG!! Theresa told me all the different layers on there, really, it was like she couldn't decide and decided to have all the cakes in there! And they passed around a tray of homemade gelato and of course I chose mint. DELICIOUS!!
And the happy couple!
Yves was really nervous because he had to do a best man speech. Well, Rich told him he didn't have to but since the maid of honor was saying something, he felt like he had to say something. He did a great job!! Sienna slept thru mostly everything and woke up near the end, around 10. By the time we left, it was pretty late but she fell asleep on the way back to the hotel even before we got lost!
Posted by luluvision at 09:31 AM | Comments (0)
September 17, 2007
Happy Birthday
to the greatest person I know! My husband! He is an amazing husband, a terrific father and a wonderful provider for his family!
Posted by luluvision at 04:41 PM | Comments (0)
September 14, 2007
Chicago memories
We're back from Chicago! And it was a successful trip. The flights were great, the wedding wonderful and the weather wasn't the greatest with some on and off rain but we had a couple of bright sunny days.
We took the 6:45 am Jetblue flight and as you can see, we don't look totally awake. Our flight was pretty empty and we were able to take the car seat on board and put it next to us. What a big help that was! Sienna was an absolute angel! We started feeding her her bottle while waiting to board since that was her usual time. She didn't finish it so while we took off, I gave her the rest of it and she drank it. Once she finished it, we put her in the car seat next to the window and she fell asleep for the rest of the flight!! Who can ask for anything better?
Once we landed and got our bags, we headed over to Enterprise for our car. They happen to be out of the compact car we reserved and upgraded us to a PT Cruiser, a car Yves always had his eye on so of course he was happy! Now normally I wouldn't show a picture with my butt toward the camera but this happens to be one of the only pics of the car. Plus we were laughing at ourselves for changing Sienna in the trunk and calling ourselves ghetto. The trunk is so roomy!
Later that day we relaxed and took Sienna to her first trip to the hotel's indoor pool! She loved it!
We had Thai food with Rich, Theresa and Matt later that night. It was delicious! Sienna fell asleep in the car seat and just happened to wake up right when we were leaving. We ended up giving her some water back at the hotel and she fell back asleep in the Pack and Play. And then the rest of us fell asleep. What a long day!
Friday we drove up to Wisconsin for lunch to go to one of Yves' favorite places, the Brat Stop. Rich couldn't believe we drove up there but it was only a little less than an hour, equal to a subway ride!
I got the garlic brat and it was good. I only wished the bun was just a tad bit on the softer side. I think I felt the same way last time I had a Milwaukee brat back in 2001.
Where's my Brat? Where's my Brat?
Later that night we met up with some of Rich and Theresa's family for a sort of rehearsal dinner at a mexican restaurant called Don Juan's. It was delicious! And Sienna slept thru the whole thing and we were certainly a loud bunch! We also did not have any trouble transfering her from the car seat to the pack and play back at the hotel. Whew!
More on the trip later...
Posted by luluvision at 01:20 PM | Comments (0)
September 05, 2007
The zoo!
We decided at the last minute to go check out the Prospect Park Zoo on Sunday. I've never been there before and after going, I can see why. It's pretty small and not a lot of animals but it was a good 'starter' zoo for Sienna. We figured she would be really excited to see all the animals while in the bjorn and were equally excited to show her around. So we were a little bummed that she fell asleep on the way over! And since we've been having trouble getting her down for naps, we let her sleep. She slept for an hour and a half! Figures!
Waiting...
We were ready to go once she woke up! We probably went thru the whole zoo faster than her whole nap! LOL. We saw some monkeys and colorful birds and fishes. There was also an area with some kangaroos but they were too far back to really see. And the red pandas had their backs to us. The monkeys were saw were baboons and there was a petting zoo area where we saw goats and a cow.
I'm up! I'm up! Let's go!
Where should we start daddy?
Monkeys!
Hey goat, sorry I don't have any food for you
Thanks for taking me to the zoo daddy!
After we fed Sienna at the zoo, we went and got ourselves some lunch of patties. We went to the same patty place we went before. I had a chicken and a beef and Yves got 2 beef ones. He felt they were too salty and not enough beef. All in all another fun family day!
Posted by luluvision at 11:03 AM | Comments (0)
September 04, 2007
Fun Filled Family Weekend!
Saturday we were invited to a pool party in Sunset Park. Since it didn't start until 4, we decided to head over earlier and get some delicious banh mi. Afterwards, we headed to the park to feed Sienna and hang out for a bit to enjoy the beautiful day. It was in the mid 70's and it couldn't have been nicer.
When we got to the party, she was hanging out in the bjorn with her daddy. She loved it and loved meeting everyone. We met another cutie named Marley who is 17 months old, also born in March! The 21st!
She also got hungry while we were there so Yves found a nice corner to feed her.
And it looked like Nuno and Marley were the only ones enjoying the pool. At least while we were there!
Sienna had such an exciting and exhausting day that we basically put her to bed right after her bath. And she went down without a fight! We did give her an extra 2 ounces since it was a little later than usual.
Posted by luluvision at 11:35 AM | Comments (1)